[lbo-talk] Mr Sarkozy as being too anti-capitalist and left wing

Nicholas Roberts nicholas at themediasociety.org
Mon Apr 23 17:08:23 PDT 2012


Also, there is no possibility of Mr Hollande appealing for patriotic help from France's banks: they already own a disproportionate amount of French government debt; and, whenever I speak to French bankers, they chastise the current president Mr Sarkozy as being too anti-capitalist and left wing, so it is doubtful they are feeling well disposed to Mr Hollande.

Which is why many influential investors see Mr Hollande as an intriguing politician with a lot of mouth but not a huge amount in the trouser department. They note, for example, that when he made a flying visit to the UK a few weeks ago, he went out of his way to play down how dangerous he would be to the City of London and international financial businesses.

If there is an investor who knows a thing or two about governments' room for manoeuvre in challenging markets it is the hedge-fund veteran George Soros.

I interviewed Mr Soros yesterday for a new film I am making about the crisis in the eurozone. "Would Mr Hollande force a significant revision to December's fiscal compact that places new constraints on deficits and debts of eurozone governments?" I asked.

I didn't think this was such a dumb question, since such a revision is more than implied by Mr Hollande's rhetoric. But Mr Soros ascribes a minimal probability to Mr Hollande loosening the new fiscal constraints or turning the tide against austerity in Europe. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17811923



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